Recommendations of the Editorial team
Frank Zappa’s estate has revived his archival label Vaulternative Records for the first time in nearly a decade – includingm to present a Mothers of Invention session from 1966.
“Zappa ’66: Vol. 1 – Live at TTG Studios” will be released on May 15th and brings to light Zappa’s October 1966 recordings with his band – made in the months following the release of their groundbreaking debut album “Freak Out!” and before recording began on 1967’s “Absolutely Free.”
The album is the first Vaulternative Records release since 2016’s Chicago ’78 – Vaulternative Records is a direct-to-fan label founded by Zappa’s late widow Gail and “Vaultmeister” Joe Travers in 2002 – and the start of a year-long plan to celebrate the 60th anniversary of “Freak Out!” from 1966.
Vaulternative returns
“We are thrilled to announce the relaunch of Vaulternative Records, creating a direct connection from The Vault to fans,” Travers said in a statement. “Frank’s AAAFNRAA philosophy – Anything Anytime Anyplace for No Reason At All – really fits here perfectly because the material can take so many forms. It could be an interview, a raw live recording, something Frank worked on that was never released, or a fully fleshed out concert. The goal is to find and share the things fans will appreciate most.”
All Vaulternative Records releases will be available exclusively through Zappa.com, uDiscover Music and Sound of Vinyl.
Ahead of the release of “Zappa ’66: Vol. 1 – Live at TTG Studios,” Vaulternative Records has shared the previously unreleased instrumental “Move On”:
Travers about the sessions
“I decided to take advantage of the 60th anniversary and put together the best cut I could to show what happened on that day in early October 1966 when The Mothers were hired to show the world what they were responsible for,” Travers added. “The Mothers were unique, and Frank Zappa, 25 years old and still in his first year as a signed artist, was about to make a big impression.”
Zappa ’66: Vol. 1 – Live at TTG Studios, available for pre-order, also includes excerpts from a rare 1966 radio session, as well as liner notes by Travers and rare photographs by Earl Leaf and Barry Feinstein.
“Zappa ’66: Vol. 1 – Live at TTG Studios” – Tracklist
- 1. “Hello There”
- 2. “Freak Chouflee'”
- 3. “Move On”
- 4. “The United Mutations”
- 5. “Tommy Come Back!”
- 6. “FZ Directs the Freaks”
- 7. “Pomp and Circumstance Sequence”
- 8. “Legalize Abortion”
- 9. “Twistin’ Again”
- 10. “The Electric Banana”
- 11. “I Could Be a Slave Story Untold”
- 12. “We Keep Changing Personnel Thought”
- 13. “A2 Jam”
- 14. “Khaki Sack”
- 15. “Duke Of Prunes” (Edited)
- 16. “Victory Through Vegetables”
- 17. “We’re Havin’ a Freak Out!”
